The present invention relates to a process for backing up data according to the preamble of Claim 1, a data processing device according to the preamble of Claim 11 therefor, a service provision server according to the preamble of Claim 13 therefor, a back-up server according to the preamble of Claim 16 therefor, and a respective program module for a data processing device, for a service provision server and for a back-up server according to the preambles of Claims 12, 15 and 17 therefor.
In known so-called back-up processes for backing-up data of a data processing device, for example a personal computer or also a computing center comprising a plurality of networked computers, firstly the data to be backed-up stored on the storage means of the data processing device are determined, for example with the aid of a configuration file created by a user, and are then stored on a storage medium of large storage capacity. So-called streamers, which store the data to be backed-up on a magnetic tape, are normally used for this purpose. For the backing-up of very important data, in each back-up process the same data can be recorded on a plurality of magnetic tapes which are preferably kept at different locations geographically remote from one another for protection from destruction by environmental influences, for example fire or water. However, this procedure is inconvenient and complicated, so that the magnetic tapes are often stored only at one location, for example in a safe, and the risk of data loss is very high.
Therefore the object of the invention is to back-up data of a data processing device in a reliable and convenient manner.
This object is achieved by a process for backing-up data according to the technical theory of claim 1, a data processing device according to the technical theory of claim 11 therefor, a service provision server according to the technical theory of claim 13 therefor, a back-up server according to the technical theory of claim 16 therefor, and a respective program module for a data processing device, for a service provision server and for a back-up server according to the preambles of claims 12, 15 and 17.
The invention is based on the principle of storing data to be backed-up of a data processing device on different back-up servers which are spatially remote from one another, and transmitting the data to the relevant back-up servers via a telecommunications network, for example a broadband data network. Such back-up servers are then advantageously situated in particularly protected locations, for example military bunkers or the like. Thus the invention does not involve the complicated handling of different storage media which a user must arrange at different locations, but instead employs easily handled communications services. Additionally, due to the redundant distribution of the data to be backed-up between different, spatially remote back-up servers, data loss becomes very unlikely.
Further advantageous effects of the invention will be disclosed in the dependent claims and the description.
For protection against undesired access on the transmission path through the telecommunications network, the data in each case to be backed-up are not transmitted in full to all of the back-up servers, but in each case only sub-quantities of the data to be backed-up are transmitted to the back-up servers, said sub-quantities being complementary to one another. Only when the complementary sub-quantities of the backed-up data are recombined, can the original data be recovered. On the basis of a sub-quantity the original data cannot be identified and therefore are also undetectable by third parties on the transmission path between data processing device and back-up servers. It is also possible for each of the sub-quantities then to be stored multiply, for example in duplicate, on different back-up servers spatially remote from one another, thus providing data redundancy. Furthermore, if desired, only particularly security-critical parts of the data to be backed-up can be transmitted in data streams complementary to one another, while non-critical data are not divided into different sub-quantities and thus not distributed between different back-up servers.
To increase the user comfort, data to be backed-up also from different sources within the storage means of the data processing device, for example data from different hard discs and/or hard disc partitions, are sent to the back-up servers. For further data protection, prior to their transmission to the back-up servers, these data then can also be combined to form a mixed data stream, from which the different data streams to be sent to the back-up servers are then formed.
Additional protection from unauthorised access by third parties to the data to be backed-up is achieved if the forementioned mixed data stream and/or the data streams to be transmitted to the relevant back-up servers are encrypted.
In a variant of the invention, the data to be backed-up are transmitted in at least three data streams to at least three different back-up servers spatially remote from one another. Here the data streams are in each case redundant, such that in each case two of the data streams are sufficient to regenerate the originally backed-up data. The breakdown of one back-up server is therefore non-problematic. However, it is not possible to recover the original data on the basis of only one data stream, thereby minimising the risk of unauthorised access by third parties to the backed-up data. In a preferred variant of the invention, the data to be backed-up are transmitted in five data streams to five different back-up servers spatially remote from one another; in this case although only four data streams are required for the regeneration of the backed-up data, less than four data streams are insufficient for this purpose.